Nutrition labels are seen on food packaging in Miami, Florida.
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The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday proposed a recent rule for nutrition labels on packaged food and drinks that is intended to assist Americans make healthier decisions at a look.
Under the brand new rule, which shoppers could see as early as 2028, food manufacturers shall be required to display levels of saturated fat, sodium and added sugar on the front of the packaging, along with the usual nutrition labels on the back.
Packaged foods within the U.S. often include quite a lot of health and nutrition claims, which may make it confusing for consumers to know what’s good or bad for them, said Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition epidemiologist on the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Fruit drinks, for instance, may advertise high levels of vitamin C on the front of the bottle, making them look like a healthy alternative, but at the identical time, they’re loaded with added sugar, Smith Taillie said.
The concept is that by placing certain nutrition information directly in front of consumers, they’ll be more more likely to make health-conscious decisions.
“We consider that food ought to be a vehicle for wellness, not a contributor of chronic disease,” Rebecca Buckner, the FDA’s associate deputy director for human food policy, said on a call with reporters.
The FDA’s proposed front-of-package label will include the quantity of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars and whether those amounts are considered “low,” “medium” or “high.”
FDA officials said the label it landed on was backed by science, including a body of research, consumer focus groups and an agency-led study of nearly 10,000 adults that checked out how people responded to several possible designs.
The proposed front-of-package labels will include saturated fat, sodium and added sugar, together with whether the product incorporates high, medium or low amounts of the nutrients.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Saturated fat, sodium and added sugar were chosen because the three nutrients because research shows they’re leading contributors of chronic disease, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, Buckner said.
“I feel people need to know this information to assist them make good decisions,” said Dr. Yian Gu, a nutrition epidemiologist on the Columbia University Medical Center in Latest York City.
Nonetheless, the additional information won’t do much good if people aren’t aware of how certain nutrients, comparable to saturated fat, can affect their health, Gu said, adding that more work must be done on educating people about their nutrition.
The FDA’s proposal comes amid high rates of diet-related chronic diseases, comparable to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, within the U.S. Heart disease is the leading explanation for death within the U.S., accounting for 1 in every 5 deaths, in keeping with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes, mostly Type 2 diabetes. And about 2 in 5 adults have obesity, the CDC says.
“These diseases aren’t coming from nowhere,” Gu said. “If people aren’t aware of the science behind all of this nutrition, they are going to not concentrate to it.”
The front-of-package labels won’t go into effect immediately, in keeping with the FDA. The proposal features a 120-day comment period after which the agency may make additional changes to the proposal or finalize the brand new rule.
Large food manufacturers can have three years after the rule is finalized to make the changes to most of their products, the agency said. Smaller manufacturers will get an extra 12 months to implement the changes.
While not the FDA’s intent of the food labels, Buckner said the brand new rules may cause food manufactures to reformulate their products so that they can move to the “low” or “medium” categories.
The Consumer Brands Association, an industry trade group, has been against the mandatory labeling, saying the FDA is considering “schemes with arbitrary scales and symbols that might cause confusion amongst consumers.”
Sarah Gallo, senior vice chairman of product policy at Consumer Brands Association, said in a press release the group has as an alternative pushed the agency to collaborate on industry-led initiatives, including Facts Up Front, which allows food manufacturers to voluntarily summarize essential nutrition information — comparable to calories, saturated fat, sodium and added sugars — on the front of packaging. The industry has also introduced SmartLabel, which allows consumers to access detailed dietary information via QR codes, Gallo said.
Will the labels affect consumers’ habits?
Putting nutrition labels on the front of packages is not a recent concept — a minimum of outside of the U.S. Dozens of nations, including the UK, Mexico, Chile, Australia and Latest Zealand, have implemented similar measures.
In 2016, Chile introduced mandatory labels on the front of packaging, alerting consumers to high levels of sugar, saturated fat and other potentially harmful ingredients.
In 2022, Brazil also implemented mandatory front-of-package labels for products.
Colleen Tewksbury, an assistant professor of nutrition science on the University of Pennsylvania, said research has shown that the labels do influence what people buy in those countries.
Nonetheless, she said, those findings may not easily translate to the U.S., where “individualism” prevails and consumers don’t “need to be told what to do.”
Often, she said, the individuals who change their buying behavior were those who were already seeking to make changes.
“Research is comparatively clear that having very simplistic front of packaging labeling does catch people’s attention, however the second step to that is whether or not or not it changes purchasing behaviors,” Tewksbury said. “We actually do not know if it’ll fully impact people’s purchasing habits.”
